Emotional intelligence (EI) is relatively easy to define, but somewhat difficult to describe. I discovered years ago that this creates some challenges for executive recruiters discussing candidates’ EI competencies.

I started working in Human Resources a bit by accident. One of my first tasks was to hire an entry-level HR Assistant for our department.

Once I had a good stack of resumes and cover letters, I took them to the senior recruiter and asked for her assistance in selecting candidates to interview. She went through the stack in about 2 minutes, ruthlessly culling people from the pile.I asked her what criteria she was using to separate the Yeses from the Nos.

“Oh,” she said. “I get rid of anyone who says they like people or they’re a people person. Well, I am a people person. And despite her advice, I have remained one because I think HR is the perfect place for people who like people.

During a recent business trip, I passed five states and multiple cities between New York City and Washington, D.C. within a matter of 4 hours on Amtrak. As my company breaks into new markets, I too have expanded my recruitment portfolio along the eastern seaboard as well as into the Midwest. When recruiting from a national pool of candidates, it is the HR professional’s responsibility to serve as the liaison between the candidate and company as well as be a representative of the state or city.